The B.C. government has dipped into its rainy-day economic allowance in order to bump up the budget surplus.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced Wednesday that the provincial surplus will grow $29 million, to a projected $165 million this fiscal year, despite weak economic growth and a drop in tax revenue.
The government pulled $50 million out of its forecast allowance in the second quarter to help “very modestly” boost the surplus, de Jong said.
“Achieving our objective and achieving that balance and modest surplus will require continued vigilance and will not leave any room for extravagance or additional spending beyond what you see laid out in the fiscal plan,” he said.
The second-quarter figures come amid flat job numbers, sluggish retail sales growth, a $58-million decline in overall tax revenue and a $40-million decline in natural resources revenue.
Revenue from Crown corporations rose $91 million in the second quarter.
The projected surplus is up from first-quarter estimates, but is $32 million less than was projected by the Liberal government in the February budget, prior to the May provincial election.
The government still has $100 million remaining in its forecast allowance and $225 million in a contingency fund.
The provincial budget of approximately $44 billion runs on a fiscal year from April 1 to March 31.
It’s still a razor thin surplus that could easily disappear, said NDP finance critic Mike Farnworth.
“I guess anyone can increase a surplus when you just do a reduction in the forecast allowance,” he said.
The Liberal government’s promise to grow the economy and create jobs isn’t working, Farnworth said. Quarterly figures show job growth in B.C. has decreased 0.1 per cent in the first 10 months of 2013 for a loss of 2,600 jobs.
“Look at the jobs plan and employment figures in this province. By their own admission, they are pathetic,” Farnworth said. “The jobs plan has been a big bust.”
De Jong said it’s not fair to call the B.C. Jobs Plan — a central theme of Premier Christy Clark’s government — a failure, though he admitted the job creation figures weren’t acceptable.
“The numbers you see for 2013 so far fall short of where we would like to be.”
